after the (relative) success of “OSX apps you need in your life” it was pointed out to me by my good friend Jimm Rennie that there wasn’t a comparable post for gPhone apps (the other piece of tech i talk about obsessively…) so to rectify that- here we go.
(apps listed in alphabetical order, categories in order of (my considered) importance)

nb- i had intended to code the app titles to link to the relevant item in the Android market if you were viewing this page on your gPhone, but wordpress keeps eating my code. just search for it dammit.
Oh, and if you’re reading this at a computer, you may want to have a gander at http://www.androlib.com/. it’s essentially a client for looking at Anroid market content when not on your gPhone. nifty.

communicative things: (no, not diseases… apps for comms etc)

ChompSMS
essentially a replacement for (read ‘improvement on’ ) the existing messaging interface. presents conversations in speech bubbles angled to one side of the screen or the other, instead of the standard dull boxes that make it hard to tell who said what…
allows for much more customisation of notifications, including light color, vibrate pattern etc. very cool.
now supports contact pictures on the main ‘conversations’ screen, and displays MMS images inline. (can’t compose em yet at time of writing, still have to use the boring one for that i’m afraid)
should be one of the first things you install on your new toy.

Hi MSN
IM client for MSN

meebo
IM client for AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Facebook, MySpace, Google Talk, Jabber and ICQ

MSNdroid
IM client for MSN

blogging / soc.net:

ElJay
client for posting to LiveJournal

fBook
wrapper app for the FaceBook web interface designed for the iPhone. works just as well on the gPhone. so ner. who cares if Google and Facebook don’t get along?

MySpace
three guesses what this app is for?

PingDroid
useful little app for posting to ping.fm (and therefore other networks you have associated with your ping)

PostBot
pretty good client for posting to wordpress

Twidgit Lite
Twitter widget for your homescreen (occupies four icons wide by one high, expands to fill screen when you tap it)
manual or auto update, and obviously can tweet from it too
(i pretty much just use it for quick two-tap updating from the homescreen)

Twidroid
probably the best Twitter app for Android (that i’ve used so far anyway)
update, get (customisable) notifications, post to twitpic (or other image hosting services), shorten URLs, now supports geotagging

Twitta
Twitter app. works ok, but prefer either the above or below apps

TwitterRide
if Twidroid isn’t the best Twitter app, then this is. this one keeps track of which tweets you’ve viewed (well, scrolled past) and so is pretty nifty for keeping track of what you’ve missed since you last looked.
also supports updating,  notifications, posting to twitpic, shortening URLs etc
unfort has a habit of crashing, which IMHO outweighs the read-tweet-tracking feature…

wpToGo
other WordPress client. does more than postbot.
recommend it for those who post on the move (or wish to!)

games:

Abduction
cute platformer where the object is to bounce a cow (or other animal later!) upwards to rescue your abducted brethren
comes in two flavours- the free version contains ‘quick game’ ie standard ‘bounce up the platforms’ mode (good for wasting time while travelling, waiting for someone etc), and a demo of the paid version ‘world attack!’ (first few levels, different scenarios, can unloack other animals to play as etc)
think the full version of this game may actually be the first app i pay for…

Amazed
remember those little plastic mazes you got in goody bags from people’s parties? where you had to tilt the thing to guide a ball from one place to another, guiding it around holes?
well now you can do so on your phone, using the built-in accelerometer. nifty.

Doom
yes, you read that correctly. you can get the FPS that started it all on your gPhone.

Hanoi
the classic logic/mechanics puzzle ‘towers of Hanoi’ but on your phone.

Lights Out
you must remember this electronic game right? lights are on, click them to turn them off. clicking one light affects those around it. simples. or is it?

Mystique Chapter One: Foetus
popular puzle-based horror makes it to android. and they can spell ‘foetus’. bonus.

Slide Puzzle
slide puzzles! on your phone! go nuts.

SuDoku
who doesn’t love puzzles based on logic and maths?

arsing about: (what do you mean “that’s not a valid category”? of course it is. cos i say so.)

Arnold Sounds
an Arnie soundboard! on your gPhone! you need this. like now.

BubbleWrap
ever wished you had a never-ending sheet of bubble wrap to carry around with you? no? ok then, move along, nothing to see here…

Chuck Norris
Arnie soundboard not enough? how bout a Chuck Norris one? how about a Chuck Norris soundboard with built in Chuck Norris facts too? now you’re talking.
now we just need Jack Bauer, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Segal ones to complete the set.

PicSay
take pictures of things and then add speech bubbles, hats, etc

The Schwartz Unsheathed
turn my gPhone into a lightsaber? oh go on then… >vwum… wvuuum<

Tub Thumper
drum kits! on your phone! tap that screen to your heart’s content and finally have that ‘budumtiss’ to hand when you need it…

Zombie, Run!
like to run? use GPS when you do? how about a GPS app that inserts zombies along your route that you must avoid at all costs? sweet.
can choose density (as in amount, i think intelligence is pretty much a standard quota for zombies) of  zombies and also their speed (‘Night of the Living Dead’ (classic shamblers), ‘Resident Evil’ (lurchy occasionally effortful) or ‘28 Days Later’ (oh shit, they can run.  shiiit shitshitshit…))

other useful stuff that doesn’t belong in the above categories:

aFile lite (previously called ‘discover’)
sets up a remote server on your gPhone so you can access your files from a pc, over a wireless network
(note: NOT a tethering app. there was only one of those, it required root access, and Android wouldn’t host it on the market cos it contravened the agreement they had with t-mobile (at time of writing sole carrier of Android)’s data plan agreement)

AppManager
app for backing up the program files for apps (ie unfort not their settings too) to your sdcard. really useful for freeing up space if there are apps you rarely use- backup to sdcard, uninstall, reinstall when necessary.

Astrid
Astrid is a to-do list and task management system. fair enough, there are enough of these around. but not like this one.
the first thing you notice about Astrid is the plethora of options and settings for each individual task. i wont go into all of these, but suffice to say that you should be able to tailor priorities, reminders, alerts etc to whatever kind of task it is.
the next thing you’ll notice is its ability to sync with the online GTD system ‘Remember The Milk’ and with GMail -pretty useful if you want to add tasks online but be reminded of them on your phone.
when a task reminder goes off is when Astrid really shines- its interface is friendly and amusing, and will remind you of your upcoming stuff with notifications like “when you get a minute, could you [whatever], cos i’m getting bored of it…”
i figure any app that can make me chuckle while simultaneously reminding me of something i need (but may not want) to do has got to be a good thing.

ASTRO (previously called ‘Bender’)
nice file management tool. does what it says on the tin.
(there’s also ‘Glance’, but i prefer astro)

beebPlayer

unofficial BBC iPlayer app. recommend only using over WiFi.

Compact Reader
as far as i’ve come across, the only ebook reader for Android

Compare Everywhere
really nifty app that lets you compare prices on something by scanning its barcode.
say you’re in a music store and think “i’m sure i’ve seen this cheaper somewhere else” or “i’m sure x place has the limited edition” etc etc… whip out your gPhone, load this up, scan the barcode and it’ll check the usual suspects online (amazon etc) and even tell you if shops near where you are have it (assuming your GPS is on)
(TBH it could do with having more options for sites to check, or letting you add your own searches (a la firefox searchbar) but still it’s a pretty good app, and worth, uh, free.)

Countdown Alarm
an ESSENTIAL app if you do like i do and start a cup of tea, bugger off and then leave it stewing only to return hours later and find it half-made and cold.
choose your notification, choose your delay, go.

dg Quickcut
great app for making custom shortcuts on your homescreen (not just to apps, but system settings, contacts, bookmarks etc)
kinda like ‘BetterCut’, but, ironically, better. :p

G-Notepad
decent text file editor. nuff said.

Last.fm
seriously. guess.

My Battery Status
lets you know your exact battery percentage, instead of the vague (and frankly sometimes misleading) colored indicator up top.
now has the option to add a %age-based notification icon (now if only it could replace the default status icon that’d be grand)

Ringdroid
lets you create custom ringtones (from sound files, direct record etc) without being at a puter

Shazam
popular name-that-tune app on your gPhone.
no, you can’t use it at the pub quiz. that’s cheating.

Skype (beta)
Skype. on your phone. so you can internet call from the thing you use to call call.

SnapPhoto
replacement for default camera app.
features include pre-focus, different lighting conditions, anti-shake detection (using in-built accelerometer)
highly recommend.

SnapTell
similar to ‘Compare Everywhere’ but with a shot of the cover instead. give it a go.

TagToDo
very good to-do list app. can have several different lists for different categories, and (if neccessary) set priority, deadline etc

Wallpaper Set & Save
three guesses what the two main functions of this app are.
main feature i like about it that instead of the default gallery behaviour of setting a landscape wallpaper that you only see a third of at a time, you can set a portrait wallpaper that doesn’t move when you scroll between the three homescreens. nice.
also, the ’save’ functionality means you can collect all your regularly-used wallpapers together in one place and restore them easily. v useful if, like me, you find yourself regularly switching between the same ones.
for best results, use 640×480 for landscape and 320×480 for portrait (yes that means that downloadable iPhone wallpapers are a perfect fit for portrait mode)

Weather
pulls a feed from Google Weather for your location. not fancy but worth a punt.

WikiMobile
wikipedia is like marmite- you either love it or hate it. if you are among the former then this app is for you. search wikipedia without using the web browser. supposedly optimised to save time/bandwidth, can’t say i’ve ever tested that so i’ll believe it for now.

YouTube
guess.